You may be interested in a debate taking place next week at Westminster about the "need for a father", something clinics had to take into consideration when they were deciding whether to offer IVF and other similar treatments. The original Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which regulated fertility treatment, had made it law for clinics to think about the welfare of any future children and this had included their "need for a father".
The updated version of this currently going through Parliament does not contain the requirement for clinics to think about a child's need for a father, and next week's evening debate will be looking at a variety of views on this. The speakers are Ruth Deech, the former Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, Juliet Tizzard, the deputy Head of Ethics at the British Medical Association and
Fiona MacCallum , Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Warwick. The debate, organised by Progress Educational Trust, takes place on January 14th, and if you might be interested in attending, you can find more details here
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In March of last year, The Telegraph published a table of IVF treatments and how they vary by region. Going down the list, it was suprising how many specified a hetrosexual two parent family as a requirement of receiving NHS funded treatment. I wonder how or if this table will change as a result of this debate?
ReplyDeleteRachel Hawkes
Chair, Verity
Thanks for that Rachel - it makes it very clear how wide the regional differences are when it comes to IVF. I think things should improve for single women and lesbian couples - but sadly there are still many other unfair aspects of the postcode lottery - something the table shows very well...
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